[420 Girl]

Dakta Green, the Aotearoa Legalise Cannabis Party (ALCP) candidate in the upcoming Mt Albert by-election, has welcomed David Shearer's statement at Auckland University on Wednesday that he "wouldn't want to see someone who was smoking a joint go to jail", describing the Labour Party candidate's view as enlightened and sensible.

Dakta Green currently faces a charge of publicly smoking cannabis and will appear in court next Tuesday.

"Our former Prime Minister, Helen Clark is this country's most famous cannabis smoker, so it stands to reason that as a Labour man he's going to agree in principle to a common sense policy on cannabis', said Mr Green, "but that doesn't help people like me, about to face the force of the law for doing something as trivial as smoking a joint in public. His party, as Government, had nine years to do something about fixing the law and did squat!"

"They held a Select Committee Inquiry into cannabis in 2001 which recommended law change and then sat on it. The National Government before them held a Select Committee Inquiry into cannabis and mental health in 1997, which also recommended a changing of the legal status of cannabis. Our politicians hear the same advice every time and then ignore it", stated Dakta Green. "A case like mine is outrageous in this day and age. It's a complete waste of police time and tax-payer money".

"It takes common sense to see the folly of our current prohibition approach to marijuana; it takes courage to act on that. Who in this election campaign has such courage? Who will stand beside me and demand change, demand justice, and above all, demand an end to the locking up of good people of Aotearoa/New Zealand simply for being cannabis smokers? We are citizens too." concluded Mr Green.

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